• Dave Meltzer Shoots on Why Jinder Mahal Lost In India
Wrestling Observer’s Dave Meltzer & Bryan Alvarez recently discussed 14 time World Champion “The Game” Triple H defeating the former WWE Champion “The Modern Day Maharaja” Jinder Mahal at WWE Live India.
Below is their discussion:
Meltzer: I don’t really know what to say about it. I mean on one hand, it was just one show, on the other hand I can’t exactly come up with a logical reason to explain it.
I can sort of see like if you’re running shows in India on maybe three times a year basis and you’re trying to tell the story of Jinder Mahal building himself up and he comes close with Triple H, but he loses and you’re building up this big win over Triple H down the line, yeah that all makes sense, but they go there maybe every other year, maybe they’ll go in a year.
This result will mean nothing. Who’s to say Triple H will even be wrestling in another year. Triple H is 48 years old. And to beat Jinder Mahal in India, it makes no sense at all. There’s no defending it.
I’d love to hear a good defense for it. I mean again, it’s like it is just a house show. It really doesn’t matter that much. People will argue – Well, Triple H was sure more over than him and it was okay at the end of the night…he endorsed and all.
Alvarez: I mean…like every babyface in their hometown that gets beaten whenever they go to Raw, SmackDown or wherever.
Meltzer: Yeah, but I mean this was stupid. It’s always stupid, but on TV it’s like the idea that you’re trying to get heat on the heel. In this case Triple H wasn’t even trying to be the heel. The mentality is that Triple H like elevated him by beating him and endorsing him after. But wouldn’t it elevate him even more by beating Triple H? Isn’t that what you would logically do in that situation?
I don’t think it makes any sense at all. I’m not surprised that it happened. It’s not like part of a long-term program. This is not a long-term program. This is a one-shot house show and the younger guys should go over especially when it’s the so-called guy you’re trying to build into being a big national star against a guy who is essentially a semi-retired wrestler.
It’s not like it’s a WrestleMania match or something like that and you’re protecting the guy for next year’s WrestleMania. It’s not like are you building up Triple H to wrestle AJ Styles next time you’re in India. I mean none of that’s happening.
So no, there’s no logical reason for it at all and they just did what they did. I mean there’s really nothing to say. I mean the argument that Triple H was a little bit more popular than he was, they were both babyfaces essentially in the match. Although The Singh Brothers did interfere and everything.
Which also, The Singh Brothers interfere, he still wins. You can go like – let him kick out of a Pedigree.
Although Triple H did put over Roman Reigns in Abu Dhabi which meant absolutely nothing. I think that in their mind Roman Reigns is a big star and Triple H can put him over, but Jinder Mahal, even though he was WWE Champion for months, he’s not on the level of Triple H. What does that tell you about their thinking?
The fact that it was just a house show, that it wasn’t TV, that it’s not telling the story, it’s not about a program. So no, it makes no sense at all. There’s no real valid excuse for it.
• Great New Photos Of Noelle Foley
Below are some new photos of WWE Hall of Famer Mick Foley’s daughter, Noelle Foley:
